A Value Focused Thinking Model for the Development and Selection of Electrical Energy Source Alternatives at Military Installations

Electrical power on military installations is vital for mission accomplishment. Most installations obtain electrical power from a local commercial utility. Although commercial power service has a very low interruption rate, the threat of a sustained power outage resulting from a terrorist act or a natural disaster is of concern. The military should posture itself to prevent such power outages and prepare to mitigate the adverse effects associated with the loss of power. This thesis presents a Value Focused Thinking approach to the development of a decision analysis model to assist a decision maker at a military installation in the generation and selection of back-up energy alternatives. The model attempts to capture the value to be gained by implementing back-up power systems which utilize fossil fuel powered generators in combination with renewable energy resources and assist the decision maker in selecting an alternative which best suits the needs of the installation. The thesis also includes a case study involving the application of this model to the United States Marine Corps installation in Twentynine Palms, California

The ephemeral form and objects of inspection

The series The Ephemeral Form is my attempt to communicate the ways in which women are similar in order to empower women so that they may overcome their differences creating a way for more open communication. This series of prints explore the notion of femaleness from a personal perspective and aesthetic. The main subject in each piece is the female torso as a static figure or a figure in motion. There is a specimen-like quality to the images as well as direct references to medieval panel paintings. Within each image the torso of the female is transparent revealing the biology of the figure. This is to show the viewer the similarities between the figures. On the surface of the figure in the image are markings and road maps, like scars, to represent the figure as a real being with a personal history. The image, when completed, looks very old and antiquated similar to a Medieval panel painting. I use the paintings and deteriorated quality of them as a metaphor for how I see the female body as it has been scrutinized and the idea of it has been transformed over time. These are the themes discussed in this paper. It is my intention that these works speak to how the female body is constantly revealing and concealing its self, opening up and closing off. The idea of femaleness is constantly changing, creating a cycle of confusion and revelation, and I depict this through the construction of the whole piece through many layers of images, decay and deterioration

Emotional and behavioural problems in children with language impairments and children with autism spectrum disorders

Background: Although it is well-established that children with language impairment (LI) and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) both show elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, the level and types of difficulties across the two groups have not previously been directly compared. Aims: To compare levels of emotional and behavioural problems in children with LI and children with ASD recruited from the same mainstream schools. Methods & Procedures: We measured teacher-reported emotional and behavioural problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a sample of 5–13-year-old children with LI (N = 62) and children with ASD (N = 42) attending mainstream school but with identified special educational needs. Outcomes&Results: Both groups showed similarly elevated levels of emotional, conduct and hyperactivity problems. The only differences between the LI and ASD groups were on subscales assessing peer problems (which were higher in the ASD group) and prosocial behaviours (which were higher in the LI group). Overall, there were few associations between emotional and behavioural problems and child characteristics, reflecting the pervasive nature of these difficulties in children with LI and children with ASD, although levels of problems were higher in children with ASD with lower language ability. However, in the ASD group only, a measure of family social economic status was associated with language ability and attenuated the association between language ability and emotional and behavioural problems. Conclusions & Implications: Children with LI and children with ASD in mainstream school show similarly elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, which require monitoring and may benefit from intervention. Further work is required to identify the child, family and situational factors that place children with LI and children with ASD at risk of emotional and behavioural problems, and whether these differ between the two groups. This work can then guide the application of evidence-based interventions to these children

Spotting Signs of Autism in 3-Year-Olds: Comparing Information from Parents and Preschool Staff

© 2018, The Author(s). Preschool informants may provide valuable information about symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of ratings by preschool staff with those by parents of 3-year-old children using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Preschool Forms. The sample consisted of 32 children at familial risk for ASD without diagnosis, 10 children at risk for ASD with diagnosis, and 14 low-risk typically developing controls. Preschool staff ratings were more accurate than parent ratings at differentiating children with and without ASD, and more closely associated with clinician-rated symptoms. These results point to the value of information from preschool informants in early detection and diagnostic assessments

Curriculum-Based Measures of Computational Skills: A Comparison of Group Performance in Novel, Reward, and Neutral Conditions

Research has established that curriculum-based measurement (CBM) procedures yield outcomes that are sensitive to a variety of educational conditions including the level of skill acquisition, context of assessment, duration of assessment, format of probe construction, and relative motivation of the target student. This study was designed to compare performance on multiple-skill mathematics CBM (M-CBM) across three assessments conditions: novel, reward, and neutral. A novel assessment condition was established when the examinee had not been exposed to the assessment conditions within temporal proximity of an administration. A reward condition was established when the examinee received contingent access to desirable stimuli or events dependent on performance. Finally, the neutral condition was established when the conditions were familiar (i.e., not novel) and there was no contingent access to rewards (i.e., not reward). Ninety elementary students across four grades (second grade, n = 24; third grade, n = 25; fourth grade, n = 14; fifth grade, n = 28) were assessed on three consecutive days. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance and follow-up planned analysis of main effects suggested that the median level of M-CBM performance on the first day of assessment (novel condition) was reduced by a statistically significant amount in comparison to either reward or neutral conditions. The difference approximated 3 digits correct per minute. There were no significant differences in performance between neutral and reward conditions. These outcomes suggest that M-CBM is an indicator of optimal performance after the initial day of assessment. Implications and limitations are discussed